EDU 5270 - Chapter 7 - Implementing Instruction

Instructional methods used to teach middle school students should demonstrate:

• understanding of the early adolescence developmental period and should show your commitment to the education of young adolescents.

• commitment to use instructional methods employed in the elementary school, since young adolescents will already be accustomed to these approaches.

• commitment to homogeneous grouping whereby all students have an equal opportunity to educational experiences, participate in class discussion, and learn at their ability level.

• understanding that middle school students need educational experiences that emphasize formal thinking—abstract thinking and logical reasoning.

Educators planning instructional experiences should remember

• instruction should be implemented for homogeneous groups, with accommodations made for the varying levels of student abilities.

• instruction does not need to be relevant and interesting provided instruction is based upon proven and respected research.

• most young adolescents like to compete for grades and recognition and research suggests competition can be a motivating factor to succeed in school.

• young adolescents’ unique abilities, interests, learning styles, and cultural and gender differences.

Effective instruction in middle schools should place emphasis on:

• individual young adolescents’ academic achievement and overall well-being, provide variable instructional group sizes, and ensure some degree of success for all young adolescents.

• cognitive development and academic achievement with minor emphasis placed on affective development.

• the lecture method because it conveys information to large groups at one time and because young adolescents usually dislike active involvement.

• worksheets and ditto-type learning materials, so young adolescents can overlearn through considerable drill.

To provide effective middle school instruction, teachers must provide classroom organizational and instructional approaches that recognize:

• the importance of grouping students on the basis of their reading or overall achievement test scores.

• all young adolescents are more alike than different.

• the cultural and gender differences of young adolescents.

• the need for secondary-oriented instructional methods and strategies.

One essential aspect of effective teacher collaboration is:

• senior or more experienced teachers have more authority and input into decisions.

• a shared sense of responsibility and accountability for decisions.

• a system of resource distribution that favors teachers of the core curriculum.

• a representative of the administration has voting power on all teams.

Educators should remember that:

• all lessons and units should be planned collaboratively, so interdisciplinary instruction can be truly effective.

• interdisciplinary instruction only works when teachers actually teach in the same classroom.

• interdisciplinary instruction works most effectively when only the core curriculum teachers plan instruction.

• every plan or unit does not have to be planned cooperatively nor taught cooperatively—some topics seem to work best when taught in an individual classroom.

Regarding the role of the library media specialist on the interdisciplinary team, she or he:

• is trained to help students develop the information problem-solving skills that the students need to retrieve information, communicate effectively, and use that information to solve problems.

• does not have sufficient knowledge of growth and development to offer suggestions for developmentally responsive educational experiences.

• should be involved with all planning and implementation of interdisciplinary instruction in a middle school.

• only should be called upon when suggestions are needed for books that are appropriate for a particular unit.

To help solve the problem of lack of _______________, educators can give students reasons to be interested in their learning and can help them strive for academic success.

With regards to general education teachers collaborating with special educators, which of the following statements is true?

• Special educators should not feel professionally responsible for students in the general educator’s classroom if the students do not have an Individualized Education Plan.

• Through mutual planning and goal setting, both general and special educators can gain ownership of the instructional process.

• The special educator should not work collaboratively with general educators unless a representative from the administration does not serve on the team.

• It is not important for general education teachers to collaborate with special educators since special needs students have an Individualized Education Plan.

Sometimes special and general educators engage in _________________ teaching during which both teachers share responsibility for planning and instructing a heterogeneous group of students in the regular classroom.